Short memory serves USC's Kessler well

BERKELEY – Two close games. Two plays. Same quarterback. Different reactions. Different results.

Six weeks ago at Arizona State, USC’s Cody Kessler threw a third-quarter interception that was returned for a touchdown. The Trojans promptly allowed two more touchdowns and suffered a blowout loss.

Last week at Oregon State, Kessler threw a second-quarter interception that was returned for a touchdown. The Trojans promptly went on a 10-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, regained the lead and never lost it.

It would be instructive to have a split-screen video, not of the interceptions but of the reaction to them on the USC sideline. Based on recollections of players and coaches, the emotions were starkly different, which goes a long way toward explaining why the Trojans have pulled their season out of the gutter.

“I don’t really look at that as a turning point,” Kessler said this week, “but I think it definitely tested me, in the way of, how am I going to respond? How am I going to come back from doing that?”

USC plays Cal on Saturday, and while the Trojans (6-3, 3-2 Pac-12 Conference) haven’t solved all their problems, quarterback play has seemingly been scratched off the list, thanks to Kessler’s growing maturity.

Unlike the Arizona State collapse, Kessler didn’t crumble last week. He came to the sideline after Oregon State’s Ryan Murphy returned his interception 41 yards for a touchdown to tie the game 14-14 in the second quarter, and before Kessler could even remove his helmet, he had people in his face.

It wasn’t upset coaches or his offensive teammates. It was the USC defense, trying to pump him up.

“We have total confidence in the offense and what they’re doing, and in Cody,” linebacker Devon Kennard said. “Good or bad, once a play is done, you’ve got to move on and focus on the next play. I think that’s what some of the guys were emphasizing to him, and he went on and had a great game.”

There are two things at play here. One is team camaraderie. Interim coach Ed Orgeron’s “one team, one heartbeat” mantra is motivational coach-speak at its highest level, but the players seem to have bought in. After the game, Kessler raved with gratitude about how the defensive players supported him.

The other thing is Kessler himself. Admittedly, after the Arizona State interception, he hung his head on the sideline. It showed, as USC went three-and-out on each of its next two possessions, and never recovered.

Kessler is an emotional player and a harsh self-critic. He once admitted that, after a tough day, he skipped dinner to watch film of himself. This was after a practice, three weeks before the start of the season.

Quarterbacks who carry mistakes with them are bound to repeat them. It’s a lesson Kessler, a standout prep quarterback at Centennial High in Bakersfield, is now learning as a redshirt freshman at USC.

“Even after the first touchdown to Marqise,” Kessler said, referring to his first-play, 71-yard touchdown to Marqise Lee against Oregon State. “I got excited, but then the play was over. It was done. I didn’t think about it anymore. Same thing with the pick-six. It’s over, there’s nothing I can do about it, and I let it go.”

When Orgeron took over for fired coach Lane Kiffin, the day after the Arizona State loss, he used one of his first public statements to declare that he wouldn’t reopen the quarterback competition. It was Kessler’s job.

“I like his tenacity, his moxie, his leadership,” Orgeron said. “He’s got some stuff that I really like at quarterback, the intangibles. He’s very competitive. He wants to win and our guys believe in him.”

For the season, Kessler has completed 62.9 percent of his attempts -- middle of the pack among Pac-12 quarterbacks -- for 1,807 yards, 10 touchdowns and six interceptions.

There’s some room for those numbers to grow. Cal has the worst pass defense in the Pac-12, and after a few weeks of looking to walk-on receivers for help, USC now has a full complement of bodies, with Lee, Nelson Agholor, Darreus Rogers, De’Von Flournoy and Victor Blackwell at receiver.

USC seems to have embraced a run-first mindset under Orgeron, but has also increased the number of deep-ball attempts with offensive coordinator Clay Helton, not Kiffin, calling the plays.

That means a higher risk-reward factor for Kessler, and he’s fine with that. If the mistakes come, so be it.

“I think that’s just growing up and learning the position better, and not putting so much pressure on myself,” Kessler said, “to where I feel I can’t make a mistake or I have to be great on every play. I’m learning from my mistakes and not beating myself up.”